The pantry desk
Indian home cooking has always been improvisation inside a grammar. Add your ingredients, see which regional dishes you're closest to — and how the same masala behaves inside a taco, a bowl of noodles or a pizza.
Your kitchen
Common staples
Kidney beans simmered until the gravy turns silky
You have: Onion, finely chopped, Tomato purée, Basmati rice
Still need: Rajma (kidney beans), Ginger-garlic paste, Ghee, Kashmiri chilli powder
Raw marinated meat and rice sealed and cooked together on dum
You have: Basmati rice, Thick yoghurt, Fried onions (birista)
Still need: Mutton, bone-in, Saffron, Ginger-garlic paste, Mint and coriander +1
Konkani prawn rice cooked in one pot with goda masala
You have: Rice, Onion, sliced
Still need: Prawns, Fresh coconut, grated, Kokum
Fire-roasted aubergine mashed with onion and tomato
You have: Onion, finely chopped, Tomatoes, chopped
Still need: Large brinjal (aubergine), Green chillies, Garlic, minced
The same masala, rebuilt in a format from somewhere else entirely.
Rasam or sambar treated as a ramen-style broth.
Rasam or sambar treated as a ramen-style broth.
Bombay-sandwich logic applied to whatever is in the pan.
